Speaker Kevin McCarthy has declared the FBI is poised to hand over a potentially damning document involving President Joe Biden – after an impassioned phone call with the bureau’s director.
Appearing for a televised interview Sunday, the California rep offered some insight as to what transpired between him and director Christopher Wray on the Friday call, which came a day after feds rebuffed a subpoena requesting the still unseen report.
The official request was sent by House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, and pertained to a prospective financial form that several GOP lawmakers claim lays out an ‘alleged criminal scheme’ involving Biden and an unnamed foreign national.
However, almost immediately afterward, the bureau’s acting assistant director of congressional affair penned a letter to Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, informing him the agency would not immediately provide the form in question.
McCarthy, 58, promptly issued his own statement decrying the response, in which he decried the official reply from Assistant Director Christopher Dunham as ‘unacceptable’.
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Speaker Kevin McCarthy has declared the FBI is poised to hand over a potentially damning document involving President Joe Biden – following what he said was an impassioned phone call with the bureau’s director on Friday
Speaking to Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo (left), the 58-year-old speaker confirmed the call had taken place, and said he was hopeful the document – whose contents have allegedly been substantiated by a ‘highly credible’ whistleblower – would soon be in House hands
Speaking to Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo two days later, the speaker confirmed that call had taken place, and said he was hopeful the document – whose contents have reportedly been substantiated by a ‘highly credible’ whistleblower – would soon be in House hands.
‘I wanted to be clear with the FBI director,’ McCarthy began, speaking for the first time about the promised call between him and Wray. ‘Congress has a right, and we have the jurisdiction, to oversee the FBI.
‘This is one piece of paper that a chairman of committee has requested to see,’ the conservative continued, toward the end of a roughly seven-minutes spot that saw him also address his latest negotiations with Biden over the debt ceiling.
He said of the subpoenaed document: ‘[Dunham] hasn’t even acknowledged if he has this document – he hasn’t even provided it’.
Citing Congress’ status as a body that oversees the FBI and other federal agencies, McCarthy recalled to Bartiromo of how he tore into the agency boss on Friday by confronting him with the fact that Dunham’s refusal constituted not only a breach of ethics, but the law as well.
‘I explained to the director that we will do everything in our power, and [that] we have jurisdiction over the FBI – that we have the right to see this document,’ the Republican recounted.
‘I believe, after this call, we will get this document.’
Apart from that assertion, the GOP operative refrained from commenting on the contents of the form – which, according to Comer and Iowa’s Chuck Grassley, is a FD-1023 form that details ‘an alleged scheme involving then-Vice President Biden.’
Such form are typically used to document unverified information obtained from confidential sources – and in this case, the GOP reps claim, pertains to Biden’s alleged dealings with ‘a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions.’
Neither man has revealed any other details about the document in question, nor has McCarthy.
McCarhty spoke with FBI director Christopher Wray (pictured) during the Friday call, which came a day after feds serving under the bureau boss rebuffed a subpoena requesting the report – which lawmakers say lays out an ‘alleged criminal scheme’ involving Biden and a foreign national
The request was sent by House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (pictured), and pertained to a prospective financial form filled out when Biden was vice president. Republicans have conceded they do not know if the claims are accurate, putting further pressure on the FBI
Last week, Senator Grassley – who also issued the subpoena along with Comer – Grassley conceded that he and other Republicans do not know whether the claims are accurate, putting further pressure on the FBI.
However, the official demand failed to sway Dunham, who immediately after sent a letter to Cormer explaining why the agency would not immediately provide the document.
‘An FD-1023 form documents information as told to a line FBI agent. Recording the information does not validate the information, establish its credibility, or weigh it against other information known or developed by the FBI,’ Dunham wrote to the Kentucky conservative
‘The mere existence of such a document would establish little beyond the fact that a confidential human source provided information and the FBI recorded it,’ he added, arguing the unnamed insiders’ claims should not immediately warrant a federal investigation.
‘The FBI regularly receives information from sources with significant potential biases, motivations, and knowledge, including drug traffickers, members of organized crime, or even terrorists,’ he further pointed out.
Comer, meanwhile, remained unconvinced – arguing in a statement sent in retaliation that the agency’s letter alone proves the document exists, and that it is being shielded from Congress by bureau officials.
‘It’s clear from the FBI’s response that the unclassified record the Oversight Committee subpoenaed exists, but they are refusing to provide it to the Committee,’ Comer explained.
Assistant Director of the FBI’s Office of Congressional Affairs Christopher Dunham rejected the subpoena due to a lack of evidence – a maneuver the GOP has since slammed as ‘unacceptable’, and spurred McCarthy on Friday to vow to speak with the fed’s superior
‘We’ve asked the FBI to not only provide this record, but to also inform us what it did to investigate these allegations. The FBI has failed to do both. The FBI’s position is “trust, but you aren’t allowed to verify.” That is unacceptable.’
The declaration came two days removed from an earlier assertion from Comer , in which he said his panel ‘will report to you only facts when they are verified and indisputable’ – referring to any foreign money transferred to businesses linked to the Biden family and their associates,
He added: ‘This committee will not pursue witch hunts, or string the American people along for years with false promises of evidence that is beyond circumstantial evidence.’
Grassley, meanwhile, sniped in a statement Friday of the FBI’s refusal to hand over the document: ‘Today’s letter from the FBI raises additional questions, including whether the FBI has an open investigation based on these allegations.’
As of Sunday, the bureau has yet to confirm whether any of the aforementioned claims involving the prospective financial form are true. It is not yet clear if the agency has begun to vet those assertions.
Republicans have yet to lay eyes on the document.
